In the coming days, the government will announce a revision of the ARMS bills mechanism in order to address a legal anomaly, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said on Wednesday.
This was announced after the launch of the Startup Festival by Malta Enterprise.
"During these months we have done a lot of work both from a technical and a legal point of view so that we can address an anomaly that was created back in 2009 regarding electricity and water bills. We did this over the past months because a radical change was needed when it comes to the law and the technical aspects. But that work has now been completed and we will announce the new system for Maltese and Gozitan families in the coming days".
Dalli said that this revision is being done despite the current challenges being experienced by various countries around the European Union, in reference to international energy prices.
"Despite these challenges, we are going to continue supporting our people with unprecedented help also because this is an exceptional circumstance that no one was foreseeing", said the Minister of Energy.
She added that in the coming days the Energy Council will be meeting, during which Malta as a participant speaker will show disagreement in a proposal for the mandatory reduction in the use of electricity.
She explained that the European Commission is proposing to forcefully reduce the consumption of electricity at certain times, what are known as peak hours.
Earlier this month, the Nationalist party had called for individuals who wish to participate in a class action lawsuit against ARMS on account of being overcharged for water and electricity to come forward
The opposition had also set up a website for people to sign up and be part of the lawsuit, as per the details announced by MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Ryan Callus during a press conference. "Even our own former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat knew about these extra charges, and yet years have passed, and people are still suffering from this injustice," Sammut had said.
Consumers were being overcharged by ARMS, the corporation that bills clients for water and energy, according to a draft report by the Auditor General, costing them €6.5 million in "additional costs".